Writers: Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin
Grade: A
I’m beginning to wonder if Vreede is a mole… He was leaving the bureau office through the security exit in his flash-forward, which could be because he knew trouble was brewing because Mark’s made no secret of the events in his own flash-forward, but it could just as easily have been because he’s in on it with the “bad guys” (whoever they turn out to be). He was also in the bar when Mark told Wedeck he was drunk in his flash-forward. He seemed to still be onstage singing at the time, but the karaoke sounds fade out just before Mark spills to Wedeck, and Mark yelled his admission pretty loudly, so it’s not impossible that Vreede could have overheard.
I had a hard time deciphering the hinted-at backstory with Wedeck, Clemente, and the President. I got all the clues, I’m just not sure I put them together right.
· Wedeck owes the President a favor.
· Clemente asks Wedeck, “How do you sleep at night, knowing what you did with that woman. Does your wife know?” There’s also something about if she could have proved what he did six years ago, she’d be president now (or maybe VP, I don’t remember). Obviously we’re supposed to think Wedeck slept with a married woman/hooker/someone who wasn’t his wife.
· Wedeck later visits a woman, Renee, and her young son, whom we’re supposed to believe is Wedeck’s bastard.
· Except that no, it’s actually the President who had an affair with the woman, and Wedeck paid her $500k to disappear.
I really can’t put all of that together into a coherent picture. Obviously the President owes Wedeck because he made Renee disappear, but how does Clemete figure into that picture? Did Wedeck take the fall for the President, leading Clemente and others to believe that Wedeck is the one who had an affair? That sounds rather public, so I’m not sure how Wedeck’s wife wouldn’t know, not to mention that Clemente’s earlier statement about how she could have been President if she’d been able to prove what Wedeck did only makes sense if she knows the President had an affair and Wedeck covered it up. If she thinks Wedeck had the affair, proving that wouldn’t have helped her into the oval office. If she knows the truth but has no proof, why does Clemente care if Wedeck’s wife knows he helped save the President’s ass by making his lover disappear?
They tried so hard to sell viewers on buying the red herring about Wedeck cheating on his wife that the truth of the matter became clouded. Clemente’s earlier comments are confusing, and even nonsensical, in retrospect. As for Clemente becoming the new VP, I can only assume that was a giant fuck you wrapped in a bow from the President to Wedeck, who had the nerve to blackmail him.
Miscellaneous Stuff
-I liked that Olivia and Aaron talked about Mark telling Aaron about Olivia’s flash-forward. It’s realistic that Mark would tell Aaron, and it’s refreshing that the show addressed how Olivia felt about that (which I took to be “annoyed but understanding”).
